


Love Is Blind - Back Home

by DreamDrop



Series: Love Is Blind [3]
Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Lawyers, Love Is Blind Netflix, M/M, Meeting the Family, Omega Verse, wedding(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:41:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23476381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamDrop/pseuds/DreamDrop
Summary: After the vacation in Mexico, the couples go back home.
Relationships: Aimeric/Jord (Captive Prince), Auguste/Jokaste (Captive Prince), Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince), Erasmus/Kallias (Captive Prince), Kashel/Vannes (Captive Prince), Lazar/Pallas (Captive Prince), Lykaios/Nikandros (Captive Prince), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Love Is Blind [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1671760
Comments: 44
Kudos: 93





	1. Getting back

The flight back went uneventful, the moving into the apartments, too. The celebration of Lykaios birthday in the evening less so.

Laurent dreaded going down to the shared ground floor and meeting all the others. He really didn't want more drama, but he knew he had to do it. As a result, he was a bit more impatient than usual and snapped at Damen, who did nothing wrong, for asking which side of the bed he would prefer.

The Alpha dropped his book on the bed and looked at him inquiringly. He took two steps in Laurent's direction and then opened his arms. "You don't have to, but if you want, I heard that hugs do reduce stress in the human body. And I can assure you, I am an excellent cuddler. The feedback I get most often, is that my height does give others the feeling they are protected, safe and loved."

Laurent, who had lashed out, had regretted it immediately and honestly had expected at least a snappy reply, felt his shoulders sag. "How can you be so kind to me?" he mumbled but stepped into the offered arms. Damen held him close and it was true, his hugs were some of the best Laurent ever received. 

Naturally, Damen had heard him and answered with all the sincerity he had inside his big, beautiful and kind heart: "Sweetheart, I am kind because you deserve to be treated with kindness. You are a wonderful person and you should never think, that you don't deserve all the love and kindness in the world. I know, you are stressed, and I know you don't like your privacy invaded like it was over the last weeks. I love you and that doesn't change, just because you get a bit bitchy from time to time."

Laurent closed his eyes and gripped the back of Damen's t-shirt tight in his hands. He ducked his head a bit and buried his nose in the juncture of Damens neck and shoulder. A deep breath in and a long breath out and he felt the urge to cry retreat. He was no crier, none of the d'Arles family were, but Damen made him feel so vulnerable and protected at the same time, that he felt his emotions well up more often than usual. 

When he stepped back, he was back in control and took Damen's hand. He loved his hands, they were big and strong with callouses and the tanned skin was such a nice contrast to his own pale fingers.  
"Come on, lover, we should get going." 

They went downstairs hand in hand.   
Erasmus almost cuddled Laurent to death, when they entered the kitchen. "I need to talk to you."   
The two blond Omegas looked to Damen, who grinned and said: "Well, I won't interrupt whatever you two beauties have to discuss, so I will just go over there."

Laurent rolled his eyes at his fiancé, while Erasmus blushed. Yes, Damianos was such a charmer. However, Erasmus almost bounced off the walls with all the excitement he was vibrating.

"I talked with Kallias, as you advised me to do and you were right. It was not something I did wrong that held him back. He told me I should tell you and thank you from the both of us, so I will give you the short version. Kallias was born as a female Alpha and it just never felt right. He started with a hormonal therapy as soon as he could, supported by his family and he was afraid I would react badly." Erasmus laughed with relief. "Silly thought of him. I love him for who he is, as if his by birth assigned gender could change something about that."

Laurent smiled. Happy for his friend to be happy and finally reassured. "Well, then everything turned out for the best."  
At least something went for the best possible outcome that could be hoped for. 

Laurent felt a bit lighter, when he went back to Damen, who was in deep conversation with Auguste. The blond Alpha had his arms crossed over his chest and looked almost fierce, while Damen made a very good imitation of a deer in the headlights. 

"What are you doing?" Laurent asked, suspicion clear in his voice and Auguste drew him into his side. "This week is dedicated to moving in together as well as you should meet the family of your partner. I am just making clear, that you are my family and Damianos better treat you with all the courtesy you deserve, otherwise I WILL find him." 

Auguste took Laurent by his shoulders and looked him in the eyes with a serious expression. "Are you sure you want to marry him? You don't have to, you know. If you don't want to, then just don't. I wouldn't be disappointed. I just want you to be happy."  
Laurent sighed. "Auguste, stop freaking out. I want to marry Damen because I love him. You already know and like him. Don't force yourself to be his enemy just because you think my hormones cloud my judgement."

This got a very violent reaction. But not from Auguste. Damen jolted and then dragged Laurent out of the room without waiting for his brother to say something else.   
"What did you just say to Auguste?"  
"That I want to marry you and he should shut up?" Laurent was confused. He searched Damen's face for a hint as to why he reacted like that.

"No. I mean the reason why you want to marry me."  
Laurent smiled softly, suddenly aware of the reason for the reaction he got. "I said, that I want to marry you because I love you."

"And, do you?" The brown eyes, flitting over his face, were so warm and hopeful that the Omega almost regretted waiting this long, until he voiced his feelings aloud. He framed the handsome face between his hands and drew Damen closer to him. 

He whispered against the Alpha's lips: "I love you, Damianos Vasileus. I want to marry you because I love you."  
Then soft lips were on his and Damen pressed him up against the wall, while simultaneously burying a hand in his hair.  
When they broke the kiss, Laurent said: "We have an affinity for walls, don't we, lover?"

Damen laughed and let his forehead fall onto Laurent's shoulder. "I love you, sweetheart. I love you so much and now I should go and apologize to your brother, whose very-protective-brother act I so rudely interrupted."  
"He will get over it."   
"Yes, I'm sure but I don't want to be rude to your brother of all people." Damen drew back and then he kissed Laurent again, soft and chaste. 

The lingering feeling of those soft and warm lips on his accompanied him through the whole evening. He knew, he was a sucker for Damianos through and through, but he never thought that he would be that affected by a simple kiss. He felt light and fluffy almost and he wasn't even annoyed with himself. He just sat in a corner with a bottle of water, while everybody else seemed determined to drink themselves to death. Except maybe Jokaste, who sat beside him and nipped at her beer. 

The camera team already excused for the night. "Do you know? Lykaios and Nik still didn't sleep with each other", she told him, at a respectfully quite volume and Laurent nodded. "I know."  
"Why do you think that is?"

"I think, Lykaios is what Nikandros thinks he wants. Someone nice, kind, polite, well-behaved and timid but that is the important point. He only thinks that." Laurent gulped down more of his water. "He is Damen's best friend, one of the most headstrong people I know, he loves to argue, and he never backs down from a challenge, except he knows it's a lost cause after lengthy and intense arguments. Someone like Lykaios is too nice for him."

"Let's face it, he loves people that don't do what he tells them to do. He is one of those people that are on their best game, if they can shake their head and then clean up the aftermath of some catastrophe."

Jokaste laughed, her head thrown back and the long, blonde hair spilling down over her back. "You are really cunning Laurent d'Arles. I can't believe you."  
Laurent grinned. "You might as well, if this whole thing works out, we will see a lot from each other in the coming years. I don't know if Auguste told you, but we are neighbors."

"He told me. You can be happy I like you so much and am looking for another job anyway. Good excuse to leave Sicyon."  
"Then you already talked about living together after the marriage?"  
"Yes, sure. I also think they only looked for people from Delpha or states directly around it. And as my family lives in Ios anyway, it doesn't really make a difference if I live in Delpha or in Sicyon."

Laurent smiled. "Good. I am looking forward to being your neighbor then."  
Jokaste patted his head in an almost motherly way, although she wasn't really the person for it. But she was 33, so maybe like a big sister. "You will have to look after my children, so don't look forward to it too much."

"I love children, so no complaints from my side. Auguste already threatened to let me work more, after he becomes a dad, so that he can be at home more often. As if that would really be a problem for me. I already sleep there sometimes." 

Their talk was interrupted by a very loud shriek. Lazar had dumped a bowl of cold water from the pool over Pallas head, who now chased his Alpha over the terrace. 

The Omega threw the veretian man over his shoulder, after he got a good grip on him and then threw him unceremoniously into the pool. Pallas and Lazar may have been of the same height, but the Omega definitely had more muscles. Kallias and Vannes laughed their asses off, while Lazar climbed out of the water, looking like a drowned cat. He grinned and opened his arms. "Come here, you my very best experiment-friends." 

Vannes laughed so hard she couldn't even evade the very wet hug. Lazar pressed her against his chest, until her gown clung to her, then he started to hunt down Kallias, who ran to the other side of the pool. 

Nikandros, who stood there without suspecting anything bad, was pushed into the water, when Lazar sprinted around the long side. He emerged cursing and sputtering. Damen and Kashel, who had talked to him stared at him in stunned silence, before both of them had to slap a hand over their mouth to stop from bursting out laughing. 

Nik glared at them both and Kashel, who held out her hand to help him out, was promptly pulled into the water. Jokaste had Laurent at her side in a second and they both went out to see the playfight better. 

Damen had taken some cautious steps back and couldn't hold in his laugher anymore. Kashel stared at Nik with disbelief written over her whole face. Then she dunked his head under water and swam away quickly. Erasmus, the good soul tried to help her out of the pool before Nik reached her, but the Alpha was a surprisingly good swimmer. 

Just as she took hold of the other Omega's hand, he pulled her back at her ankle and Erasmus lost his balance and fell into the water. That caused laughs everyone, because poor Erasmus really didn't deserve it. Kallias on the other hand deserved to be shoved into the water by Lazar, who had chased him around the pool at least five times. 

Lykaios vanished into the house, most likely to get towels. She was prepared for almost everything and someone needed to stay dry to go get them. Laurent didn't see much hope of escaping unscathed, if they stayed there any longer, especially since Auguste prowled towards them. 

"Don't you dare, we didn't do anything. And you are not involved in this." Laurent tried to avert the impending doom but his older brother only grinned.   
"Come on, Laurent. Don't you remember the summer two years ago?" 

He did and that was also the reason, he wouldn't leave here dry. They were at a pool party of one of their associates and Auguste was being stupid, what did they expect from him? Naturally, Nicaise had helped, but the initial idea and the planning were all Laurent's responsibility. 

Jokaste laughed so hard, she had one hand pressed against her side and tears started to form in her eyes.  
"I wear a white shirt," Laurent tried to reason.   
"I wore a white linen suit, dear brother." He knew that, he had just hoped his brother would have forgotten. Auguste had cornered him against the glass and then he grabbed him, threw him over his shoulder and went to the pool. 

Laurent, who couldn't stop laughing had not enough strength to fight him; he clung to his pale blue shirt and hoped to drag him down with him. But Auguste knew him long enough to grab him by his wrists with each hand and then letting him fall like a bag of potatoes. 

But he had made friends on this experiment, that were almost as loyal as Nicaise and didn't enjoy watching him suffer so much. Isander pushed Auguste right behind Laurent into the pool and then said with the most innocent voice ever heard: "Oh no! I am so sorry, I didn't see you. Can I get you a towel?" 

Laurent almost drowned with laughter. His brother pushed him under water again in retaliation and then splashed Isander. The dark-haired Omega pouted, before jumping in and helping Laurent pushing Auguste under. When they had taken their revenge and Auguste started to get out, to get a comforting embrace from his fiancée, Laurent searched for Damen. 

Isander grinned, when he saw Torveld walk out on the terrace with an amused look on his face. He hurried out of the pool and ran towards the unsuspecting man. Damen leaned against one wall of the house, relaxed and alert. He wouldn't be so easy to outsmart like the average party attendee, but Laurent knew him good enough to know his weakness. 

Slowly he lifted himself out of the pool. His eyes never leaving the Alpha until he twisted around and sat down at the edge of the pool to push his hair back. Then he stood and he knew that Damen stared at him. He could feel his gaze like a caress and when he turned, he saw that the man had taken two steps towards him. 

He dragged his eyes up to that handsome face and then he smirked, slow and seductive and Damen took another step. He was like hypnotized, running straight into his doom. When he stopped before the Omega, Laurent leaned closer to his ear and whispered: "I don't regret anything" and then he sidestepped and gave Damen that last nudge over the edge. 

But he had clearly underestimated the Alpha's reflexes or maybe his knowledge of him, because he was grabbed by his waist and dragged back inside. Damen kissed him, as soon as he reached the surface again and Laurent sighed against his lips, his hands found their way into the wet, black hair, the curls now flat against his head. 

He was pushed against the wall of the pool and Damen tilted his head up to kiss him even deeper. Before he could do something foolish, like wrap his legs around Damen's waist, Lazar wolf whistled, and mock whispered to Pallas: "This porn would bring a lot of money."

Laurent groaned and let his head fall back, what Damen exploited in his full potential and pressed kisses into the skin of his throat. Then he backed away slowly and grinned. "Now, sweetheart, do you care to get out of here?" 

He looked so cocky Laurent had to retaliate. He arched one eyebrow and then swam closer to Damen, placing one hand over his bicep.

"I do care to get out of here, lover. How about you? You could help me get out of this shirt. I would return the favor, naturally. What do you say?" Never before was the saying: It's not important what you say, but how you say it, more fitting. Most of the others had already shed their tops and were now wrapped in fluffy towels, the words on itself nothing illicit. 

The dark eyes flickered over his chest, focused on the hickey over his collarbone and Laurent felt the muscles flex under his hand. He smiled, turned and got out of the pool. This time he could practically feel how Damen stared at his ass. He grinned self-satisfied and looked at his fiancé, still in the water.

"Won't you come out, Damianos?" The Alpha only shook his head. "It might be better if I just stay here for a moment."  
Lazar laughed out loud. "I can't fault you for that one, Damen."  
Lykaios came over and handed Laurent a towel with a small smile.   
"Thank you."  
"You are welcome." 

Then he started to open the first button of his shirt and Lazar immediately stopped laughing. A stifled moan sounded behind him. When he pushed the translucent fabric over his shoulders, he heard splashes from the water and then Damen was there and wrapped him into the towel from Lykaios.  
"What are you doing?" he asked dangerously low.   
"Changing out of my very wet and uncomfortable shirt." He sounded innocent. 

Damen narrowed his eyes and then, without breaking eye contact, he gripped the seam of his t-shirt and drew it over his head and off. Laurent's mouth went dry. He could stare at the expanse of a very broad, very muscly chest he was intimately acquainted with. He concentrated very hard and kept his gaze stubbornly on Damen's chest. That was bad enough. Without his gaze dropping lower. 

He schooled his features, although he was pretty sure that nobody notices his flustered state except Damen and Auguste and then looked back up into his fiancé's face.  
"It really is more comfortable", said fiancé agreed. He pushed his hair back and that movement let the muscles in his arm bulge. 

Laurent breathed very controlled through his nose. He thanked Aimeric, Auguste's assistant, for dragging him to yoga classes before the experiment. His breathing didn't accelerate at all. He took the towel, rubbed over his hair a couple of times and then threw it at Damen.

Multiple gazes were upon him in a second. He didn't like people staring at him as if he was a piece of meat but that didn't mean that he couldn't handle it. He was at the beach regularly and there he had met a lot of creeps. At least, here he knew them all. He also knew, that he would rather be dead than filmed like this but there were no cameras. 

So, he threw his wet shirt over one shoulder and then walked to the doors. Multiple gazes followed him. Lykaios had thought ahead and left a mountain of towels right beside the door. His left a wet trail on the stone floor as he entered, but he didn't care even remotely and just went into their apartment.

It was funny, Damen had thought he knew Laurent. He always thought the Omega would be an overly private person about his body. So, he got out of the pool and wrapped him into a towel, when he realized that Laurent was about to shed his shirt. 

They were never at the beach in all their time in Mexico, as a result he had just assumed. He couldn't stop himself from teasing the younger man a little bit, but Laurent hat just stared at his chest without a change in his expression and then started to dry his hair. As if he stood in his bathroom after a shower. 

Damen had thought that Laurent would be annoyed, maybe even shy about displaying himself out there like that. Put out by people staring at him without his clothes on like an armor. He assumed Laurent was nobody who would walk through a party half naked, but he apparently was wrong. So very wrong. 

He could only stare at the defined back of his fiancé. The muscles rippling at every step. His jaw almost hit the floor when Laurent walked inside without even acknowledging the stares that followed him. Auguste laughed from somewhere. "Breath, people. That is important."

Lazar was the first to speak, maybe not to think but to speak definitively: "Well, Damen, I don't understand why you even bother to get out of bed. Do you really appreciate this beauty? For fucks sake…"

"You know, I don't like to agree with Lazar, but he is right." Pallas looked his fiancé and the Alpha laughed. Damen needed a moment to gather his wits. He cleared his throat, looked at the other experiment participants and smiled an embarrassed smile. "If you'll excuse me." 

The laughter that followed him was loud and he was just happy that nobody was in the house at the moment and saw him running up the stairs. Laurent stood in their bedroom before their closet, naked. By all the Gods, Damen thought, this man would be his downfall. 

"Fiancé, finally able to join me?" His hair was almost dry and his lashes that were stuck together when he emerged from the pool, already fanning against his cheek when Damen kissed him hungry and impatient. 

"You are wet and cold", Laurent whispered as soon as their kiss ended. Goosebumps over his arms.  
"Then we should definitively change that." Damen started undressing, threw his soaking pants and the t-shirt into the open bathroom. The gaze of the Omega caressing his body like a physical touch. The touch of Laurent's fingertips felt like fire on his ice-cold skin.


	2. Settling down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello you all! Finally some Nicaise. I hope you all like the chapter :) Happy weekend and stay safe.

When he woke the next morning Laurent still slept beside him. His hair was a mess, his face relaxed and soft and Damen seriously never saw a more beautiful sight than his fiancé in that very moment. He smiled to himself and got out of bed to prepare breakfast. When he finished half an hour later, he went back to wake Laurent.

"Sweetheart, come on, wake up. I have something to eat for you."   
The blue eyes blinked awake and Laurent was alert in seconds. That amazed Damen again and again. The Omega was not a morning person in the sense of getting up early if he could sleep in, but he was wide awake the minute he opened his eyes.

"I can go back to work today."   
Damen laughed. Yes, that was most likely one of the happiest days in the life of the blond man. "You can. Auguste will be here at eight, so you should get up, shower and then come eat breakfast."  
"You are the best." He was already half in the bathroom but smiled back at the Alpha, who felt his heart swell with tenderness.

When they sat at the kitchen table Laurent was already impeccably dressed in a grey suit, white shirt and silver tie. Damen felt his mouth water, he had to tear his gaze away. The blond man wanted to go back to normality as soon as possible and that would involve work and dressing like that every day. 

He would just need to work up a tolerance. Then he would be fine and not feeling like his heart pounded out of his chest every time he saw him. 

Laurent didn't talk much while eating and then the time came where they had to say goodbye for the day. Auguste had already knocked at the door. "Don't forget to get back early so that we can go to our houses to collect our things," Damen reminded him and Laurent nodded sagely. 

"I won't forget. I already wrote my assistant to keep my schedule cleared after three and you can even come and get me. It would make sense if you take Jokaste with you, as Auguste lives right beside me and we all need to get there anyway."

"Will do, sweetheart. Now go before I change my mind."  
And out of the house he was. Damen cleaned everything up, then he went to the gym. He intended to work out for some hours before getting back and going grocery shopping. There he met Pallas, who smiled at him from the bench press. 

Lazar stood behind him, most likely supervising his execution and being there in case of an emergency. Or at least that should have been his job but actually, he looked more as if he was ogling his Omega. 

"Good morning, Pallas, good morning, Lazar. How are you?"  
"Fine." Lazar sounded very distracted. The reason was most likely that Pallas sat up and wiped his forehead with his shirt what showed quite a lot of his stomach. 

Damen grinned, the Omega grinned back and then said: "We're good. Lazar doesn't have anything better to do than help me and I still have some days off of work."  
"Good, I have two weeks of no work before me. I think I will have to come here pretty often as Laurent is already back at work." Damen shrugged his shoulders while Lazar's head shot up. "He's already back?"

"Yes. He couldn't wait to be honest. When we got our phones back, he almost cried. His assistant called him the same evening to tell him how incompetent he was and that the firm actually was doing better without him than with him. Just to ask when exactly he planned to return."

"So, he is a total workaholic. Nothing new on this front."   
Damen grinned and nodded while he started a light jog on the treadmill. "I think it runs in the family. Auguste was fifteen minutes early today to get to work. He would never admit it, but he is just as anxious to get back as Laurent."

Meanwhile in the d'Arles & d'Arles law firm: "What the fuck?"   
Laurent stared at his office. Everything was pink and orange. Everything! Even his fucking desk pad. His classy, elegant and beautiful furnishing was all gone and in its stead monstrosities appeared.

Then his phone started ringing.   
"What?" he barked. Clearly not his best day. But it was his private phone, he could be an asshole all he wanted.  
"I hear, you already saw," Auguste sounded a bit regretful.   
"I don't know how I could miss that."  
"Yes, I know."

"Do you want to tell me it looks like that at your office, too?" Laurent felt himself go ice cold. Auguste had an important client today. If his office looked like this disaster, it would be a real problem.

"Unfortunately."   
"No." Laurent refused to believe that. Nicaise could be a pain in the ass and Aimeric could be a bit cruel sometimes but they wouldn't do that, would they?  
"I'm afraid, yes."

Laurent closed the door behind himself and took a deep breath. "I am going to kill them."  
Auguste sighed. "I think, they wanted to show us how this firm would look like if we weren't here."

"Yes, like a fucking madhouse. Auguste, I will clear the conference room for your appointment and then I will get those two to replace every single item until tomorrow morning. I swear, if Nicaise doesn't get me coffee for the next two months without a complaint, I am going to put dye in his shampoo."

There was a knock on his glass door and Auguste came into the office. The call ended. "Well, interesting color combination on that front too."  
"What do you have?"  
"Bilious green and purple." 

The Alpha racked a hand through his hair but he almost smiled. "I texted Jokaste and she said that I must really be beloved by my employees."  
"Auguste, that is not funny."  
"Only a little bit."

Laurent couldn't suppress the smile anymore that threatened to spill over. He started a video on his phone and took in the whole atrocity that his office was, then he sent it with the caption 'Finally back, it's as if I never left', to Damen. 

Auguste grinned like a maniac all the while. "Now we need to find our assistants and look angry. Serious face, brother."   
They both breathed in once, looked at each other and carefully set their masks back into place. Laurent looked unimpressed while Auguste looked disappointed. 

"Good, you still can do it. I thought, you might have forgotten the big-brother-is-disappointed-in-you look. But you are as good as ever," Laurent teased. 

Then they left and went to the office buffet. On the way there Laurent placed the order to clear out the big conference room with the good view from one to two with their most reliable secretary, who only nodded. Something like pity in her gaze but it was not directed at Laurent, most likely was that she knew what would come next. 

Nicaise and Aimeric sat at one of the break tables, both so intently busy with their phones, that even Auguste would have suspected them.  
"You two, follow me." Laurent's voice was like ice. 

Their heads shot up and Laurent could see the worry in Nicaises eyes. Yes, the other Omega knew that they had overstepped. That was most likely also the reason why they only followed without any protest. 

Auguste and Laurent went into one of the empty smaller conference rooms. Then Laurent let Auguste talk. The older d'Arles brother was always good at making someone feel guilty with the nicest words. He also had this look that was perfect for those situations and Laurent was on the receiving end of a couple of times before he was out of puberty. 

Both blue pairs of eyes however strayed to Laurent multiple times during the reprimand. However, they shrunk in on themselves with every word Auguste said and Laurent understood; his brother was that kind of person you wanted to impress, even if you didn't have to and hearing him say that he was disappointed was one of the worst feelings on this planet. 

Aimeric and Nicaise both nodded when Auguste ended, their eyes fixed on the floor and that was Laurent's cue to talk. "Now, as Auguste placated me, telling me that you both would certainly regret your actions, I won't add anything else to this. I hope you'll remember forever that he saved your sorry asses today."

"However, I expect that everything is returned to its normal state immediately. I don't want to see any trace of your redecoration efforts by tomorrow. Am I clear?"  
They again nodded but Laurent just asked: "Am I clear?"

"Crystal clear," Nicaise mumbled. "But did you see the cute pen? I thought you would like it."  
"I didn't see it, I was busy bleaching my eyes."  
"I am sorry." He even sounded sorry and that was a rare occurrence. 

"Good. You should be. Auguste has to work in the conference room today. Your actions do have consequences and we are not in school anymore. We are a law firm, appearances are everything. You understand?"  
"Yes."

"I am sorry, too. Auguste, if I had known that you would work with a client today, I would have never…" Auguste interrupted Aimeric before he could finish. "Never do that again or something similar and we won't have a problem. I actually liked the beanbag."

Aimeric perked up again and Auguste shooed him off with the order to start cleaning up his office immediately then the older D'Arles brother went to prepare the conference room. 

Laurent stayed behind with Nicaise. "You should go get me that pen, my laptop and a coffee. As well as the McFinnley case files and then you start cleaning my office. I will work here for now."

Nicaise almost ran out of the room, still not protesting. Laurent was very impressed with his brother and himself. He never expected Nicaise to comply so fast. He looked at his phone and saw that Damen had sent him a picture. 

He opened it; it was a selfie with Jokaste. Both sweating and grinning. They stood in the gym of their apartment block, drinks in their hands and towels around their shoulders, 'Working hard, too. Nice interior décor, sweetheart' was the caption. 

Laurent typed back: 'Looking good. Say hello to Jokaste for me'  
'She says hello back. Well, I have to keep up with you.'  
'You have nothing to be ashamed of, fiancé. We both know, you are very attractive.'

'Well, thank you! I won't deny that, but have you ever looked at yourself?'  
'I did; just recently, while you fucked me in the bathroom, facing the mirror.'

Now the answer took longer than before and Laurent smirked at his phone, before putting it away in his jacket when Nicaise entered with the requested things.

"Here is the coffee, you wanted. Black. Your laptop, the case files, your document case and the pen." Nicaise stood there as if he expected to be yelled at. He should have known that wasn't Laurent's way of handling things. 

He took the pen; it was really beautiful. Orange with gold and Laurent knew that Nicaise tried to hide the thoughtful gift under all the horrible things in the office. "If you don't want the things from the office, donate them. And I expect coffee for the next two weeks at my table first thing in the morning."

"Yes."  
"Good. Now sit down and catch me up on the last two weeks. I need to get back into the game."  
Nicaise looked at him warily but sat down. 

He started to tell Laurent everything about the new cases, the cases that were closed and who was responsible for which client.  
"Jord really worked hard," he finished.  
Laurent just hummed uncommitted. "Hard work is not enough."

"He worked well; everything went down without a hitch."  
"Why do you want to placate me? I know that something is amiss. Just tell me, it will only get worse if I hear from somebody else."

Nicaise sighed. "Jord and Aimeric slept with each other."  
"Yes, I suspected. Well, as long as their professional relationship doesn't suffer." Laurent opened his file.

"What is wrong with you? Did they give you drugs?" It burst out of his assistant with so much force, that Laurent closed the file again. Nicaise dragged one nervous hand through his brown hair.  
"What do you mean?"

Nicaise flinched and then sighed. "I just mean, you didn't threaten to kill me, you even took the pen, which I really thought you would like but was sure you would throw out of the window just out of spite and then you don't even react to the news that Aimeric is sleeping with one of your partners."

"Yes. And?"  
"And the only punishment I get is Auguste's disappointed stare, which is horrible to be honest, and coffee duty for the next two weeks."  
"Next month, if you are smart."

"Well then, I wanted to extend it even further. Good to know that you are that easy to please. That is just as confusing. I thought, you would come here after ten days and hate the world but now you are here after fifteen days and act as if you were a normal human being."

Laurent rolled his eyes. "I am a human being."  
"Yes, that might be true, your status is not yet determined. There is still a bet going on between the financial and the IT department. But normal was never a word I would have used to describe you. Did you meet someone?"

There was no sense in denying it. "Yes."  
"What?! Really?"  
"Yes, Nicaise. That was the purpose of the whole experiment."  
"Okay, okay. And?"  
"Oh no. I won't tell you. I might have told you, if you didn't pull that shit you did, but now I won't tell you just out of spite," he quoted and then opened his case file again. 

"You can't do that to me! Laurent. Spill it. You never meet someone."  
"I meet a lot of people."  
"I mean, you never meet someone, who could even hope to fulfill all your ridiculous standards," Nicaise sounded frustrated.

"You are right."  
"But now you did."  
"Yes."  
"And? Is it a he, a she, none of the two? Beautiful, ugly, average? Good sex, bad sex, boring sex?"

Laurent sighed. "We are at work."  
"Yes, and?"  
"I was away for two weeks and have a lot of work to catch up on. Quit bothering me."  
"If you insist, I will quit bothering you, but I will bring you lunch and then you will better tell me everything."

And like clockwork he brought Laurent his lunch at half past noon. He sat down beside him on the conference table and they started eating in silence.  
"Now, tell me everything."  
"He, beautiful, good sex." 

Nicaise immediately understood that Laurent answered his questions from the morning. "You have to be kidding me! Tell me more."  
"No. Not today. I am still feeling a bit resentful. Tomorrow maybe. Now go, do your job."

Nicaise pouted. It should have been a ridiculous expression on the six feet tall Omega, but Nicaise made it work. Laurent however, only rolled his eyes and waved a dismissive hand. Then he looked at his phone and saw that Damen had answered.   
'You need to stop texting me such things, sweetheart.'

"You are smiling. I can't believe it. Laurent, you are looking at your phone and smiling. Last time that happened, you destroyed the lawyer from this biotech company without even meeting him once." Nicaise sounded not only astonished, he sounded shocked. "Did you lose some of your brain cells because you participate in reality TV?"

"It's not reality TV and don't you have a job to do?"  
"What did the beautiful Alpha male with the good sex text you?"  
"Get out of here, Nicaise. I mean it." Laurent looked up and Nicaise seemed to still feel a bit remorseful as he did as was asked. 

Laurent texted Damen back and then went back to work. He only had three more hours before they needed to head out and there was still so much to look over. 

Auguste dropped by after the meeting with the client and informed him that everything worked out just fine. Not that Laurent would have ever doubted his brother's abilities. 

"You should take a break, Laurent. Nicaise told me you've been here without even five minutes for coffee."  
"He just complains because he has to get me the coffee now himself."  
"Seriously, come out here and get a breath of fresh air with me."

"As fresh as the air can get in this city. Auguste, you need to stop worrying. What will you do after you get to be a dad? You will lose all your hair."  
"Don't talk about my hair just because you want to distract me. We both know that our family got perfect hair."

Laurent rolled his eyes but stood, nonetheless. They got out on the pavement and Auguste went to the next donut stand to get a whole package. 

"You just needed an excuse to get enough sugar to put you into a comatose state."  
"Maybe, but you are also my little brother and I am worried about you." 

Laurent grinned and took one of the donuts. When an Alpha walked a bit too close for comfort, he glared, and the guy took a double take. "I kindly advise you to look where you are going." 

Auguste grinned and only shook his head. "You are a real delight. I don't know what I would do without you in my life. I really love you; you know. I don't tell you enough, but it's true."

"You tell me enough, Auguste. I love you, too. Now you need to get back inside. If we have to get out of here by 3pm you need to look over the Greenley case for me. I think there might be a problem."  
"Now, we don't want problems here, do we? You better show me right away." Auguste indulged him good natured. 

They went back inside and met in Laurent's conference room turned office. Aimeric brought them coffee without needing the reminder, more than could be said from Nicaise. Although the Omega brought them Jord.

"Welcome back, Auguste, Laurent. How was your vacation?"  
"Enlightening. Now, we shouldn't waste any more time. Let's get down to business. How was business?" Laurent didn't even look up from his files.

"Am I only here to catch you up?"  
"Yes. If you thought I would reprimand you because you slept with Aimeric, you are deadly wrong. Who you fuck or don't fuck is not my business and as long as both of you do your job, I honestly couldn't care less."

Auguste looked astonished. "What? Who is fucking who?"  
"Jord is fucking Aimeric, but that is hardly surprising."  
"It is surprising to me." Auguste looked at Jord with a raised eyebrow. Jord scratched the back of his head and Laurent was again amazed, at the fact that the Alpha could do a decent job. He had so many tells that he wouldn't be able to fool a five-year-old. 

"Yes, and I am sorry. I know it's is not the professional thing to do. However, I love him…"  
"And we are very happy for you, but could you please refrain from talking to me about your love life? Auguste might be interested, I am certainly not and if the two of you want to discuss this any further then please feel free to do so, after you left my temporary office."

Jord sighed, while Auguste flickered a finger against Laurent's ear. "Stop being so insolent. I did better as legal guardian."  
Laurent rolled his eyes but didn't interrupt Jord again, when Auguste asked what he intended to do from here on. 

That was the problem with working with friends. Always something private to discuss. Laurent seriously didn't see the appeal. He didn't even talk to Auguste about private things while working. 

When they finally got to talk business, it only took them one hour to catch up with the most important things that happened the last two weeks. And after another hour of working through case files, Nicaise almost crashed through the glass door before it could open in his hurry to get inside.

"There are people here to see you." He looked as if Christmas and his birthday were on the same day and Laurent felt the dread rise in him. Auguste on the other hand looked delighted. 

He stood and grinned from ear to ear. "Who is it?"   
He exactly knew who it was, and Laurent considered throwing the thick folder at his stupid, happy face.  
"One is a bombshell of an Omega, really, she looks like one of those models and the other is the most alpha Alpha I've ever seen. A beast of a man. My gosh, he looks as if he could lift a truck and he is so handsome. I thought I swallowed my tongue."

Laurent now considered hitting his head against the tabletop and pass out, just to not having to witness what was coming next.  
"Do invite them in here, please. And Nicaise? Go get water." Nicaise nodded, a lot too enthusiastically and then went down the hall. 

"Why would you do that?" Laurent knew he sounded exasperated.  
"Do what?"  
"Letting them in here."  
"Because they came to get us?" The smirk on Auguste's face told a whole different story. "I thought you would be happy to see your fiancé."

"I am happy. But not here. I don't want people talking about my private life even more than they already do and will do after this fucking show hits the channels."

Auguste sighed. "This may be good practice for you, brother. They will talk about you forever. And the longer you try to keep it under wraps, the worse it gets. Better to get it over and done."

Laurent sighed and sat down again. "You are right. I am grateful for the experiment, otherwise I might never have met Damen, but I am not happy about the whole out-in-public-thing."  
"I know."

The door opened and Jokaste, followed by Damen entered the conference room. Auguste swept the blond woman into an embrace and kissed her hard. Laurent looked away, although he knew that half the office would watch them through the glass door. 

He stood and walked over to Damen, who smiled down at him. His stupidly cute dimples right there. "Hello, sweetheart."  
"Hello, lover."   
The Alpha brushed his thumb over Laurent's cheekbone and the Omega smiled back involuntary. "You will cause rumors in my office."

"Oh, better to clear them up, don't you think?" Then he took Laurent's face between his hands and kissed him softly. When he backed away a few inches, the blond man only said: "That was not what I had in mind."

"I know." Damen sounded self-satisfied and smug. Laurent wrapped one hand around a wrist and squeezed gently. Then he turned around and started gathering his things. 

"If you two plan to fuck in the office, I recommend the printing room, there are less glass walls than here", he threw in the direction of Auguste and Jokaste and then went out of the room, without looking if one of the others followed him.

"Nicaise, don't forget, my office will look exactly how I like it tomorrow morning, I don't care if you have to work the whole night for it. Also, here is a first draft for the McFinnley settlement. Give it to Jord for review. He should be able to handle it. Make lunch reservations tomorrow for me to meet the new client we talked about before I went on vacation. And quit staring at me like that."

"Laurent, who is that?" Nicaise's voice was almost an octave higher than normally and Laurent would have laughed, if that was a thing he did over such things.

"Nicaise, Damen. Damen, Nicaise." He waved a hand between them, while still looking at the files for the biotech company. "I'll take these home, if somebody should ask."

"Hello Nicaise, I am Damen. Nice to meet you. Beautiful taste you have. I appreciated the orange mini bar, very tasteful."   
Laurent finally looked up. The Alpha had a bright smile in place and offered his assistant a hand to shake.

"Hi. Finally, someone to appreciate my genius. Are you sure you want to marry him?"  
"Pretty sure, yes." Damen looked at Laurent with the softest look on his face and it almost hurt Laurent physically to see that kind of gaze directed at himself. "Although, I am a bit disappointed I don't get to see the minibar for real."

"Nicaise, show him the damn minibar. I am going to wait in the car. And don't take too long."  
"You should really come with me." Damen grinned. "Otherwise I might think you are afraid of a bit colorful environment."

"I know what you try to do here Damianos."  
"Yes, I know. Does it work?"  
Laurent rolled his eyes but started to walk in the direction of his office. 

The whole way there Nicaise bombarded Damen with questions:  
"Did you really not see his face before the proposal?" – "Yes. I did not."  
"What do you do for a living?" – "I am a police captain."  
"Really?" – "Yes. Really."

"Laurent, really?" – "He already told you."  
"And you want to marry a lawyer?" – "Apparently. However, my best friend is a lawyer, so I might be a bit biased."

"What did you like about him?" – "Everything."  
"I can't imagine. Do you know how he talks to people?" – "I do."  
"And you still like him?" – Damen laughed. "I do."  
"Are you sure?" 

Now Laurent felt himself compelled to answer: "You like me too and know me even for a longer time than Damen."  
"That's true but I like you because I am an asshole, too. He isn't."

Laurent sighed and Damen laughed, he had such a beautiful laugh. "I like that about him. It never gets boring to be with him."  
"You don't know that; we know each other for two weeks. I could have fooled you." 

They reached the office and Damen looked honestly impressed. "Where did you find all this stuff? I can't imagine people to really buy a bookshelf in orange and pink leopard print. And no, you couldn't. You might think I am a gullible person, but I was a police officer for all my adult live. I know what to look for and you are everything but boring."


	3. Meeting the family

Damen knew that Laurent really loved his assistant. He didn't talk much about friends or colleagues, but he talked about Nicaise and that told him a lot. 

Nicaise was a lot like the Alpha imagined him, beautiful, witty, brash and intelligent. Yet, there were also things he didn't expect, like how tall Nicaise was. Even a bit taller than Laurent. He was a lot nicer than Laurent had described him. 

And he seemed genuinely interested in Damen and happy that he liked the minibar. Especially, when he looked triumphant to Laurent and said: "See? Your fiancé also thinks it is impressive that your office looks like that."

Laurent stared at him with an ice-cold look and Nicaise rolled his eyes.   
"I promise, tomorrow, it will look like before. Now you should go and take that beast of Alpha with you. Maybe he will fuck you to cheer you up. Otherwise I would dump him." 

Nicaise smiled, shook Damen's hand, added: "Nice meeting you", and then went off. Damen was speechless to be honest. Laurent had warned him already about the loose and filthy mouth of his assistant but hearing it for real was another experience.

"Well, I think he is right. We should go, we have a schedule to meet."   
Damen gazed at his wristwatch and calculated how much time they still had to get downstairs. As it was, they had still fifteen minutes before they needed to drive, and he was pretty sure Auguste and Jokaste were somewhere in the printing room. 

He grinned and caught Laurent's hand in his own. "Now sweetheart, do you try to hide me from your colleagues?"  
"Well, as you obviously like people with asshole personalities, I am afraid you might dump me for one of my co-workers."

"How many of them are blond?" Damen joked and then looked around for a closed door that was not made out of glass.  
"Real ones or fake ones?" Laurent followed him, he sounded amused. "What are you looking for?"

"Hm… I'd like to think real ones but I most likely couldn't even see a difference, so you could fool me. And I look for a bit of privacy. For fucks sack, is the whole building made out of glass?" 

Then he felt how he was tugged into a room and he was speechless for a moment. They stood in something resembling a library, it looked like in a Harry Potter movie. "Wow."

Laurent closed the door behind them and said: "My favorite place in the office. But don't tell Nicaise, he might burn it to the ground if he knew. I make sure to complain about the awful lighting here at least once a month, so that he tries to punish me by locking me inside here if I am too stubborn for his liking." 

Damen couldn't have imagined how he could love this man any more than he already did but this little explanation conquered another part of his heart. 

He cradled Laurent's jaw in his hands and kissed him softly.   
"You are perfect. I never thought I would meet anyone like you, ever. Laurent, if I hadn't already asked you to marry me, I would ask you now again."

The Omega finally let go of his bag with the laptop and the case files. He grabbed Damen by his shirt and pulled him closer, the Alpha couldn't resist, even if he wanted to, and backed him against the closed door.

"We really have an affinity for doors and walls, don't we, Damianos?" The words were whispered directly against his mouth and he couldn't wait to devour the plush, pink lips again. This was heaven and he didn't intend to let even one precious second slip through his fingers.

"How are your thoughts on a make-out session against this door for the next ten minutes until we have to be in the car?"  
Laurent chuckled and answered: "Absolutely in favor, Sir." 

There it was again, the playful way in which he used the title and Damen groaned and lifted him up against him. Laurent wrapped his legs around his waist immediately, his hands grasped hold of Damen's shoulders and then he was yanked forwards, until their lips met in a hard, passionate kiss. 

"Did I tell you how hot you look in a suit?"  
"You told me that I look handsome, beautiful and lawyerish but hot was not yet used in this context."  
"What a dreadful oversight from my part. You look unbelievable hot in this suit. I need to check if that applies to all your suits."

Laurent let his head thunk against the wood and brushed his fingers through Damen's curls and the Alpha used this opportunity to mouth at his exposed throat. "If you want to admire me in every single suit I have in my closet, we need to get downstairs and to my apartment."

Damen grumbled unhappily and continued to bury his whole face in Laurent's neck. He didn't want to face reality; he would prefer to stay here with his Omega. He didn't remember the moment when he started to think of Laurent as "his", but he thought of himself as Laurent's just as much. He couldn't imagine ever walking away.

"Damen, the sooner you let me back down, the sooner we will leave the whole ordeal behind us and you can remove my scent patches back in our apartment, if you want." 

This got his attention. He loved to smell Laurent everywhere and he would admit that he hated the scent patches with his whole being. 

He lifted his head to look in Laurent's blue eyes, they were overwhelming. A lot about Laurent was overwhelming and sometimes it was so much beauty that Damen couldn't really concentrate on details but right there, in this moment, he just stared and admired the gorgeous eyes of his fiancé. 

"Gods, Laurent, I think I could have fallen in love with only your eyes. I love how soft they get, when you look at me."

Now the Omega rolled said eyes and pushed him away while sliding back onto his feet.   
"You know, you are such a sweet-talker, I am not surprised that half the Omegas you meet fall to your feet." 

Again, he didn't wait for Damen and just started to walk to the elevators. They got downstairs and waited for Jokaste and Auguste on the sidewalk, where the car with the camera team was parked. 

When the two appeared five minutes later, Jokaste's hairstyle was definitively not the same elaborated braid that she had when entering the building but in a simple ponytail, while Auguste's shirt was a little bit wrinkled. 

Damen chose to keep silent, just grinned and they all got into the car. Damen drove and soon they reached the building where the d'Arles brothers had their apartments. Obviously, it was in one of the priciest neighborhoods of the whole city. 

They drove in the underground garage and then got out. Laurent pressed the button to the top floor in the elevator and Damen stared at him in shock. "You can't be serious."

"Damianos, what did you think? Our parents started the law firm, were very successful, Auguste and I were already well off before even starting in our working life and we aren't really unsuccessful."

The Alpha suddenly realized that Laurent had to be more than only well off. His mouth went slack. "You didn't tell me."  
"What is there to tell? That I have more money than I need? What does that change?" 

Jokaste and Auguste were silent, and Damen was grateful for it.  
"It wouldn't have changed anything. But I would have known. My god, Laurent." Damen racked his fingers through his hair and started pacing in the elevator. 

The cameramen tracking every movement. He knew that Laurent wouldn't appreciate a confrontation in front of them, so he shut up, pressed his lips together and tried to relax the muscles in his shoulders. 

It was just money; it was not as if Laurent had to tell him. He completely understood why Laurent didn't tell him while in the booths, but afterwards, in Mexico or even when they returned back to Delpha, it would have been appreciated.

The ride up was silent, even if it was only because Laurent threw an icy glance towards the production assistant, who definitely wanted to ask Damen something. 

The Alpha was again amazed how Laurent did it. People shut up with only one look directed at them. He would have loved to be able to do that. 

When they arrived at the top floor, Auguste went to a door while Laurent went to the second one. Damen followed. He was still angry, or more likely hurt, but he wouldn't miss out on an opportunity to see Laurent's normal living environment. 

It was exactly how he imagined and yet, it was not. He stood inside a loft, with a staircase to a second floor. The inside was decorated elegantly but minimalistic. It was a lot of white, grey and blue hues. The walls weren't painted but grey concrete. 

What surprised Damen was the dark blue couch. It was definitely designer, as he never saw something similar. Composed of quadratic sitting cushions, every single one in a different design. The carped matched perfectly, it was in a similar design as one of the cushions. Damen was fascinated.

"It's from a French furniture store with fabric designed by a Japanese designer. It's called Mah Jong and the patterns were inspired by classic Kimonos," Laurent supplied as means of explanation. 

He turned and went to the staircase. Damen followed and they ended up in a spectacular bedroom. Two walls were made out of glass, looking over the city, the bed was in the same design as the couch and there was one rocking chair in the same fabric.

"Wow. This looks great. If I go to the website of this furniture store, will I get a heart attack over the prices?"  
"No, you won't. There are no prices, lover." 

Laurent walked in a walk-in closet and started packing. Mostly it was suits and Laurent just threw them over Damen's arms.   
"They might wrinkle otherwise." 

He was the most efficient packer Damen had ever observed and not twenty minutes later, Laurent stood in the middle of his first floor and waited until they could leave. 

One production assistant had relieved Damen from all the suits and the Alpha dared to approach his fiancé once again. Laurent looked up and there was something like vulnerability in his eyes. 

Damen almost reeled back. He slowly reached out and when Laurent just looked at him with uncertainty in his gaze, Damen caressed the knuckles of his hand against one sharp cheekbone. The Omega's eyes fluttered close and he let out a breath that Damen didn't realize he held in. 

"We'll talk later." It was said like a promise and Damen smiled and nodded. He was a bit confused, a bit hurt but that meant nothing if Laurent still let him close. The Omega took his hand into his own and pressed a kiss to the knuckles. 

"Your home is very beautiful. I like it a lot."  
"Thank you." Laurent smiled and then Auguste walked into the apartment.  
"We're ready to go." 

They went back and decided to go to Jokaste and Damen on the next day. It was not really a problem. Damen had washed everything since they came into the apartments, he was a bit of a neat freak sometimes and he didn't have much else to do other than wait for Laurent. 

They were alone and Laurent started filling his side of the closet with his clothes, while Damen started with dinner. 

Four hours later they lay in bed and Laurent turned to face Damen. "I don't like to talk about money. It just doesn't sit right with me and I tend to ignore the fact that it is important. I am sorry."

Damen felt his heart swell. It was so much more than simple excuses coming from Laurent. "Sweetheart, I am sorry too. I was a bit hurt because I thought you didn't trust me with the fact."

"No. You have to know that's not it. I just… I never talk about it. I let Auguste handle our family fortune. I just manage the money from my job and even that doesn't sit well with me." 

Damen drew him in his arms and caressed his hair. "You don't have to talk about it with me, Laurent. I was just so surprised and, honestly, a bit afraid I wasn't enough for someone like you."

Laurent sat up, as if Damen had burned him. "How can you think that?"   
He looked serious and also a bit angry. "How can you even remotely think you aren't enough for me? Damen, I love you and I don't say that lightly. You changed me and whatever happens next, I will forever be grateful that I got to know you." 

"People are cruel and whatever they might say about us or about you, it's not true. I know who you are and that is what made me fall in love with you. For fucks sake, I didn't even see you." 

Damen was speechless. He just stared at the gorgeous human before him, his gaze dropped to those full, pouty lips and the next thing he knew, was that Laurent was under him and he kissed the Omega as if his life depended on it. 

Laurent opened up to him beautifully, his scent enveloped them, and Damen couldn't resist the urge to bury his nose in the pale neck. "You smell so unbelievable good. I can't get enough of you."  
"Let me scent you, Damen." 

The Alpha was so accustomed to the patches, that he sometimes wore them to bed, just because he forgot they were there. He sat back on his haunches and started to peel the patches off. 

When he lay back down, Laurent rolled them over and was now draped over his chest. He pressed one hand against Damen's chest to stabilize himself, the other wrapped around one biceps, an appreciating squeeze followed and then he pressed his lips against Damen's throat. 

The feeling was heady, and Damen felt how his head started spinning. He rubbed his wrists up and down the strong back over Laurent's shirt and a deep rumble formed in his chest. His hands froze. 

The Omega looked up in surprise.  
"What… Damen, did you just..?"  
The Alpha flushed, it was very intimate and nothing he could control. He smiled bashfully. "I am sorry, but I can't really do something against it."

"No, it's fine, I am honored, to be honest." Laurent smiled, open and without reserve. He didn't smile like that often, so it was all the more special. He lay his head back down and continued to scent Damen while dragging the tips of his fingers through Damen's hair. 

The rumble started back up again, but now the Alpha was not surprised anymore and just continued caressing the back of the man in his arms. Laurent let out a breath in a huff. He started to relax; Damen could almost feel how the tension melted away from his body. 

Every single muscle going pliant. Laurent's body molded against his own, Damen let his fingers slip under the soft fabric of the t-shirt Laurent wore to bed. The skin under his fingertips was soft and warm, the muscles underneath strong and relaxed. 

He mapped the expanse of his fiancé's back and tried to commit every single dip to his memory. And then he heard it, he had to force himself to not react, maybe he just imagined things. 

He waited and brushed his fingers over Laurent's spine again in a featherlight touch and truly, there it was again, a soft purr on his exhale. 

Laurent stilled and Damen just continued his exploration. The blond man purred quietly on every exhale. "If you dare tell anyone about that, I'll see myself forced to smoother you in your sleep, Damianos."

He chuckled. "Not even Auguste?"  
"Especially not Auguste! He would never let me live this down."  
"Like the fact that you are a pro at karaoke?"

Laurent huffed. "I can't believe he just told you that. So much for trust between brothers."  
"Well, with your voice it doesn't surprise me that you are a good singer. But I swear, I won't tell anyone that you purred."

"Thank you. And now continue doing what you did, and I'll be out in some minutes." 

The next day went in a similar fashion as the last, Laurent went to work, and Damen would pick him up at three to go to his apartment. This time Damen refrained from going into Laurent's office but only because they were on a tight schedule. 

Laurent almost ran to the car, if running were something Laurent did in his thousands of dollar suits. They drove over to Damen's as fast as possible and the Omega racked one hand through his hair in an untypical display of nervousness.

"Why exactly are we doing this whole thing again today?"  
"Because you have to meet my family sooner or later and today is family dinner at my father's house. Perfect opportunity."

Laurent nodded. "You are right."   
They went into Damen's apartment and the Alpha started packing. He gave his fiancé a quick tour and Laurent looked at all the pictures for a long time. 

"Is this Nikandros?" He pointed to one photo of them in kindergarten and Damen laughed. "Yes, you wouldn't believe that we turned out the way we did when you look at that picture."

Laurent smiled and his gaze caught on another image. "That is your mother, isn't it?"  
Damen felt how his throat closed up. He just nodded. 

"You look a lot like her."  
"Thank you." Damen drew him close and kissed him softly. 

Laurent looked good enough to eat. He wore a grey three-piece suit and his glasses. It was because he had a headache since morning, otherwise he would never wear his glasses, but Damen loved them. Laurent looked even more sophisticated than under normal circumstances.

"Now, let's go. My father hates it if I am late." Damen tugged him through the door to the car and they got in again. The camera team hurrying to follow. 

"Who will be there again?"  
"My father, Theomedes, my step-mother, Hypermenestra, my uncle, Makedon and his wife, Diana, and my cousins, Oliver and Sasha."  
"Was there a reason why your uncle and aunt broke family tradition with the names?"

Damen laughed. "I think Diana wanted something new for her sons and Makedon is a sucker for her. He would have given them veretian names if that made her happy."

He had already told Laurent that his family was a bit skeptical towards Veretians. Even if they lived in Delpha, the only area with a co-leadership from Akielos and Vere. 

"Everything will be fine, Laurent. Don't worry."  
"I can be very charming," The Omega agreed and Damen laughed again. It was true. Laurent could be so charming in fact, that he could have sold ice to a penguin. 

They got out of the car and Damen could see his father standing on the porch with his arms crossed before his chest. As soon as he saw Laurent his gaze went from stern to amused. He only shook his head and drew Damen in a hug. "Hello son, I see you brought him with you."

"I did. Dad, this is Laurent, Laurent this is my father, Theomedes."  
"Hello, Sir." Laurent offered his hand to shake and smiled a dazzling smile and Theomedes laughed. "Even blind my son chose a blond. Hello Laurent. A pleasure to meet you. I don't have to ask for your intentions. You want to marry my son?"

"I do. You raised a very good man."  
Damen felt himself flush under the searching gaze of his father. He took Laurent's hand and drew him to his side while Theomedes nodded. "You are right. We did. Hypermenestra, Damen is here."

A beautiful, tall woman emerged and stood beside Theomedes. She was an Alpha like her husband and Laurent smiled an offered his hand to her. She smiled back and shook it. 

"Hello Laurent, Damen already said how beautiful you are, and he didn't exaggerate."  
"He did?" Laurent raised an eyebrow and Damen flushed even more.  
"Sorry sweetheart, I started to ramble and couldn't stop myself." 

Hypermenestra laughed and ushered them all inside. They sat down at a big table, Laurent beside Damen and Makedon.  
"Well boy, I hope you are not as cunning as other Veretians." Makedon stared at him with a severe expression.

Laurent smirked. "I'm afraid I'm the worst of them all."  
"Why doesn't that surprise me? Are you a banker or a broker?"  
Laurent sighed, as if he had to tell Makedon very bad news and Damen had to suppress a snicker. 

"I'm a lawyer, so even worse."  
Makedon eyed him and then laughed. "I like you, you have a good sense of humor."  
"Thank you. Most people accuse me of having no sense of humor at all."  
"Then they are simply too stupid to follow, aren't they?" Makedon patted Laurent on the back and Damen was a bit surprised.

He hadn't expected his uncle to like his fiancé. As the biggest hurdle was overcome the rest of the family dinner went smooth and Laurent had the whole family wrapped around his little finger after they left.

He was also very drunk because Makedon brought out the Grieva sometimes through the football game, when Laurent threw around with terms, as if he was a professional player. 

Makedon had adopted Laurent as a third son when they debated the pros and cons of one or another player. 

His own sons didn't like football at all and Damen, who played through college didn't like to remind himself too often what his knee injury destroyed for him. 

When they needed to get up, Laurent leaned close to Damen and said: "I'm afraid you need to help me walk to the car. I think I can't take one straight step. Whatever your uncle gave me, this is the devils beverage."

Damen laughed. Makedon already slurred his words a bit, Oliver as well, and Sasha lay passed out on the couch. Hypermenestra giggled like a little girl and Diana held her head. The only ones not drunk were Theomedes and Damen himself. 

The camerateam had already went back at ten o'clock and now it was midnight. 

When they were finally back in their apartment, Laurent groaned. "I will regret this tomorrow."

Damen laughed again, but helped his fiancé out of his jacket, his shoes and then the suit. Laurent let his head sink against one of his shoulders and breathed through his nose. "I'm feeling nauseates. Why did I do that again? I think I need a reminder."

"Because you love me and my family is known to celebrate with Grieva whenever something big happens, like me getting married to you."  
"Fuck. You are right. You are the source of my future headache. I demand you make me breakfast tomorrow."  
"Of course, sweetheart. Come on, we'll go to bed."

Laurent hated his life. Why did his fiancé have to be so fucking sweet? He couldn't help but want to deserve him and he even let himself get drunk just to impress his family. 

Gods, was he an idiot? He groaned. His head was killing him, and his stomach rolled whenever he tried to move. He slept barely four hours and worst of all, he couldn't even appreciate Damen's toned back when he left the bedroom because he needed to concentrate on not throwing up. 

Slowly he sat up, breathed through his mouth and then stood. At least everything stayed where it was, his head was not spinning. He walked downstairs in his sleeping attire and Damen smiled at him from the kitchen. "Good morning."

Laurent huffed. "Good is not a word, I'd use to describe this morning."  
He reached for the tea Damen placed before him and took a careful sip. He stared at the kitchen counter until Damen placed crackers on it. 

"They help, you need salt." Laurent took one without question and nibbled. It couldn't get worse, really, so he had nothing to lose. When there was a knock on the door he groaned. "Why?" 

Damen chuckled, combed his fingers through his hair und went to the front door. Auguste's cheerful voice filled Laurent with an urge to punch someone. Then his brother entered the kitchen and grinned at him.

"Long night?"  
"Rather short." Laurent got up and closed his eyes for a moment. "Just give me ten minutes."  
"You could stay home."

Laurent didn't even deem an answer necessary. He needed fifteen minutes but after he almost looked like himself. He went back down in a blue suit, Auguste was talking to Damen and then smiled at him. "Now you look almost human."

"Thank you." Laurent glared at him and lifted his bag from the side of the couch. Damen came over and kissed him goodbye. "I'll see you tonight."  
Auguste waved and said: "Don't forget the fitting in the afternoon, Damen."

"That's today. Of course, it's today," Laurent muttered and was even more grateful for the pain killers he had taken before coming down.

"Are you sure you want to go to work today?"  
"Yes, there I can mellow in my office on my own without cameras."   
And that was exactly what he did. He gave up on reading paperwork and just tried to recuperate from the night before. 

Nicaise brought him tea and fruit, supplied with the words: "You never ever looked this bad, even I have pity on you."  
Laurent rolled his eyes, winched and then sipped on his tea. When they needed to go to the fitting, he almost felt like himself again. The headache was still there but at least he wasn't nauseates anymore. 

He nodded along, let the shop assistant dress him up, got the opinion of Nicaise, who accompanied him and was brutally honest and then just took the suit Nicaise and Jokaste approved. 

When he could finally go back, he went straight into the bathroom, took a bath and then went to bed. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he drifted off to sleep. He didn't even hear Damen come back home. But he realized when strong arms drew him against a hard, warm chest.


	4. Bachelor party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello you all! Sorry it took so long. Here is the new chapter. I promise I will respond to the comments soon. :) Thank you all for reading.

Laurent kept close to Auguste and Jokaste in order to avoid any more relationship drama. He really didn't enjoy the way Isander and Torveld fought all the time, or Kallias and Erasmus talked to each other as if they maneuvered through a field of high explosives. At least they still talked. Nikandros and Lykaios didn't even look at each other anymore. Lazar and Pallas however were as over each other as in the beginning. The silver lining.

One evening, when they celebrated the last time together before the bachelor party, Auguste went to stand beside Laurent. "You could think we are here to tear each other's throats out." He tried to shield Laurent with his body, as Damen was off somewhere else, but it was too late. 

Isander threw himself at Laurent and cried in his arms. The tall, blond Omega really didn't know what to do now. He pressed his lips together. He was not a person to offer comfort. Most of the time nobody demanded it from him because everybody knew he was not a warm person.

"Auguste?" He knew he looked and sounded desperate, but he would offer up a whole lot to get his brother to comfort the clearly distressed young man. 

Auguste was good with people who cried. He was compassionate, understanding and warm, not at all like Laurent, who most of the time offered the harsh, ugly truth without cutting away the hurtful edge. The Alpha smiled at his brother's apparent discomfort and gathered the crying man in his arms. "Now now, what happened?"

"I can't marry him. I really want to, but I can't. He doesn't even give me a chance and I am just exhausted. I don't want to be someone's second choice." Isander hiccupped and Auguste stroked his hair.

"You should never be less than someone's first choice, Isander. You are a wonderful young man with a big heart and quick wit. You don't have to sell yourself short. The most important thing is that you are happy. Never marry someone that makes you unhappy." Auguste offered a tissue and Isander blew his nose.

"I am such an idiot. I really thought it was my fault but whatever I tried I never reached him, so I think it's best to give up on this whole endeavor." Isander smiled through his tears at Laurent and took both of his hands. "Please be happy Laurent, you are such a wonderful person and I am so grateful that you found someone like Damianos. I would like to stay in contact, if that would be okay with you."

Laurent was surprised. He never thought that Isander would like to hear from him. "Sure. I'd love to hear from you, Isander." He didn't expect the beaming smile or the hug that followed but at least the tears had stopped. Then Isander marched off to break things off.

"Thank you", Laurent muttered to his brother who patted his head. "I know you are not the strong one in the emotions department, little brother."

"Sometimes you are such a jerk."

"Well, thank you, that's so nice of you." Auguste laughed and hugged him close, while the screaming started. Isander rushed out of the house not ten minutes later and the car was already there to pick him up. 

Most likely the producers already knew about this development. It wasn't surprising for anyone but after Isander's departure nobody was in celebration mood anymore. Nikandros and Lykaios excused themselves shortly after that, as well as Kashel and Vannes. Lazar and Pallas sucked face somewhere by the pool. Auguste, Jokaste, Damen and Laurent sat down to stuff their faces with all the leftover food. 

"This is delicious." Jokaste ate from a veretian pastry and Auguste chuckled. "It's Laurent's favorite. I had to buy him one every evening to get him through his last year of law school. He slept for maybe three to four hours and the rest of the day, he drank coffee and ate sugar to stay awake."

Laurent snorted. "Those were the times, I tell you. I thought I'd die before finishing my degree."

"To be honest, I had moments where I thought that too. It was horrible. You looked like a vampire." Auguste only shook his head and Damen laughed. "I bet it was a stressful time for you too."

"It was. Most of all the last month. Every time I tried to talk to him, he hissed at me. He made a great imitation of an angry cat." Laurent rolled his eyes and punched his brother's arm playfully. "You are the worst. Really, I don't like you sometimes."

Auguste shrugged. "As long as it is only sometimes, it's enough for me, considering you hate most people. To be disliked by you sometimes is still a whole lot better than most can boast about."

"You two are so adorable." Jokaste grinned at them when Laurent reached for the pastry his brother had on his plate. Auguste let him have it and Laurent munched happily on it. He rolled his eyes again, but the effect was somewhat destroyed by the fact that his mouth was full.

Damen only shook his head. "I think you need to swallow first, sweetheart, otherwise your glare won't work properly."

Laurent did as he was told and then said deadpan: "I am pretty good at swallowing. You of all people should know best." Damen choked on his drink, Auguste gagged and took Jokaste by her hand, who giggled like a teenager. 

"I don't want to hear that. Gods, Laurent… Ew…" He shuddered and hurried to the staircase with Jokaste close behind. Laurent chuckled and directed his gaze back to his fiancé, who was beet red.

"Come on, Damianos, it's not as if that was the worst I ever said to you."

"Your brother sat right there!"

"Yes, I know, that was the whole reason it was so much fun." Laurent grinned and picked up another pastry. Damen shuddered. "Please don't do that when I'm here. I don't think I will survive a lot of such embarrassing moments."

Laurent laughed. "I apologize. Come on. We should go to bed. Tomorrow are the bachelor parties and I have the horrifying hunch that there will be strippers. I can't handle that without enough sleep."

Damen only shook his head. "Poor guys. They certainly won't know what hit them."  
"I will let Nicaise deal with them. He at least appreciates all those half naked people."

True to Laurent's supposition, there were strippers. He shook his head and sat the farthest from the stage. Jokaste besides him almost fell from her chair from laughing. She was a bit tipsy and Laurent honestly regretted not ordering something alcoholic. But he still felt the hangover from the time he met Makedon and the rest of Damen's family. 

"Oh, I think this guy there likes you." Nicaise poked him in his upper arm.  
"I assume he likes our group as we are obviously all getting married. And are drunk."  
"But he stares at you." Nicaise grinned wickedly.  
"Whatever you think now, I can tell you for a fact that it is a bad idea and you'll regret it." Laurent looked up. His gaze drifting from Nicaise to the stripper and back.

Nicaise snickered. "For fucks sake, I think you gave him a heart attack. With one single gaze. Have you seen his face?"  
Laurent was not amused. "I have, actually. Tempting, but no, thank you." He sounded deadpan and downed his glass of sparkling water.

He just wanted to go back, to bed, preferably with Damen in it. As Damen always slept in only pajama-bottoms he would have a tantalizing amount of skin at his pleasure. He would nip at the delicious skin, lick over firm muscles, bite into soft spots… why again did he have to be here?

He hadn't realized, that two of the strippers were at their table now. Both Alphas, one male, one female. They were beautiful. But Laurent just wished Damen would be here. Nobody could compare to the Alpha anyway and what was the point looking at people who couldn't hold a candle to Damen? 

He could appreciate the show, but he didn't feel the urge to touch, it wasn't even remotely tempting. Nicaise besides him grinned at him. "Your sex must be mind-blowing."  
"What does lead you to this thought?"

"I have two observations. First: You don't look at all those very handsome Alphas, you don't even bat an eyelash to be honest. Normally, you are cool towards people, but you have a very special look for attractive Alphas and now this look is not on your face. Second: You were lost in thought for a moment there and then you had this look on your face. Hence, the conclusion, Damianos must be satisfying you."

Nicaise smiled at one of the dancers and threw some money at them. It was Laurent's money, but the Omega didn't mind. He was relieved that Nicaise did enjoy himself.  
"You are right." Laurent sat back and couldn't help the smirk that tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Jokaste leaned over him towards Nicaise. "You are more than right. Those two are worse than horny teenagers. I bet they couldn't leave their fingers off of each other for a day." She shook her head with a grin. "Together in a room and after an hour they are god-knows-where doing god-knows-what."

"Well, it seems that not only god knows what we do, isn't that right, Jokaste?" Laurent smiled. She rolled her eyes. "It's not really difficult to guess. You always look very through-fully fucked when you come back. Damen must love to grab you by your hair."  
"He enjoys it," Laurent agreed and Nicaise raised an eyebrow. 

"I would never have taken you for the type."  
"The type?" Laurent sipped at his water and looked at his friend questioningly.

"Well, the type of guy who likes his hair being pulled in bed."  
"Tell me more. How do you think am I like in bed?" Laurent amused himself greatly. He raised a challenging eyebrow at Nicaise. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Nicaise grinned. 

"Bossy. Definitively. You are so bossy in every aspect of your life, I can't imagine that you could stop it, even if you wanted to. Demanding and in control. I can't decide if you are into kinky sex or not. I think with Damianos you might be. Did you ever play strict cop and ruthless lawyer?"

Laurent only shook his head in disbelief. "Please, how boring do you think we are?"  
"What now? You are seriously insulted because I propose the obvious?"

Jokaste grinned and racked her gaze up and down one of the strippers on stage. "I think these two are a lot kinkier than you might suspect."

Nicaise sucked in a sharp breath. "Tell me more."  
"Well, I once happened to find myself outside a broom closet in the house and I can tell you, I heard a lot of interesting things."

Laurent tried very hard to remember what she meant.   
Nicaise supported his head with his hand and looked at Jokaste expectantly.

She grinned wickedly and said: "It involved Damianos admiring his handprints on Laurent's backside."  
Nicaise almost toppled over. His gaze snapped to Laurent who shrugged.

"Really? Laurent. Really?"  
"What? If you didn't realize, Damen is a sweet talker. Even in bed. Especially in bed."  
"THAT is not what this is about." Nicaise's jaw hung open.

"I don't talk about my bed preferences with you. You are, in fact, my employee."  
"Yes, and that is a horrible oversight from my side. I can't believe you! How could you not tell me?" 

Jokaste grinned and sat back as the female Alpha ground on her lap. 

"Now beautiful, I am getting married in less than two days."  
"Really?"  
"Yes."  
"Lucky Alpha."

Jokaste smiled up at her. "Isn't he?"  
The woman chuckled and Laurent had to repress the urge to jump on the table when light fingertips grazed his hairline. He looked up and saw the Alpha from before directly in front of him. 

"Oh please, no." Laurent could see that the Alpha really liked what he saw. That was fine, but no touching allowed. He didn't want a sweaty Alpha writhing in his lap if it wasn't his fiancé. Nicaise almost chocked on his own spit while he tried to suppress his laughter.

"Really. I can't appreciate your efforts, but I am sure my friend can. As soon as he gets enough air to supply his brain." Laurent mentioned to Nicaise who grinned at him.

"You don't know how to have fun."  
Laurent only rolled his eyes and got his phone out. He saw that Damen had texted him.

'Are you enjoying yourself, sweetheart?'  
He texted back: 'Not nearly as much as one would believe.'  
'Why not?'  
'You ruined me for everybody else, Damianos. I can't even look at the very hot stripper before me without thinking of you in our bed.'

There was a pause and Laurent wondered what Damen was doing. Were they also in a strip club? He would bet that Damen could have a lot more fun on such an occasion than him.

'There are strippers at your bachelor party?'  
'Yes.'  
'Alpha strippers?'  
'Obviously.' Laurent almost rolled his eyes at his phone. 

Again, there was an awful long time before the next text came.  
'And you text me?'

'Damianos, if I could decide, I would be in bed with you right now. With either your cock in my mouth or in my ass. As that is not possible given the current circumstances, I prefer to, at least, have a written conversation with you.'

'You are going to kill me.'  
'That is not my intention.'  
'I hope not. If you want to kill me, do it after we are married. Otherwise my asshole of brother will inherit the fortune of our parents.'

Laurent laughed; he couldn't help himself. 'Thank you very much for your help in picking the right moment to murder you.'  
'My pleasure, sweetheart.'  
'I assume there are no strippers at your party?'

'Not up until now.'  
'How boring for you.'  
'I am not disappointed in the least and to be honest, I don't envy you. I hope this is over soon and we can execute your genius plan.'

'The one with your cock in my mouth?'  
'That exact same one.'  
'Yes, I would like that too. You always taste delicious and I love it when you grab my hair while I blow you.'

'Fuck. Sweetheart, you need to stop texting me such things. Your brother looks at me with a very suspicious look on his face and if he wants me to stand up now that would be very embarrassing for a lot of people.'

'If he tries that just tell him that there is a Situation happening over here.'  
'I will try that. I think this is the worst party I ever attended.'  
'Is Nik drunk yet? You can tell him that you know a very outspoken, beautiful, intelligent Omega that is still single.'

'The guy is getting married in a few days.'  
'You are the only person nice enough to write that in a private conversation.'  
'Okay. You are right. He isn't getting married. Who would that Omega be?'  
'Nicaise, obviously.'

'LOL. You have to be kidding me. Nik and Nicaise?'  
'Two people made for each other. They will bicker until the day they die in each other's arms.'  
'Actually, I can see it now.'

'And you will never be able to unsee it.'  
'I know. We have to introduce them. They will fuck each other in less than a month while denying their attraction and then start dating while pretending to hate each other.'

'I thought Nikandros does want to start things slowly? At least that's what he told Lykaios.'

'That is what he intends to do but you have to know that actually he does some rash things when there are bratty, beautiful Omegas involved.'

'How could he ever think that the nice, docile type is for him?'  
'Honestly, I believe he just wanted to show me how mature he can be.'

Laurent grinned. He looked up, found the eye of a production assistant and went over to her. She watched him nervously. 

"Now, I really don't want to be here. I want to be informed as soon as I can be spared. If I have to sit here even one second longer than is absolute minimum, I will be very cross with the director of this whole thing."  
She wrung her hands nervously. "I will have to ask."

He nodded. "I will wait here."  
She went off and he wrote another text. 'Boring is more like it.'  
'I won't tell him that.'  
'Might be better. He already hates me.'

The woman came back and smiled relieved. "You can go, if you want. A car will bring you back to the apartments."  
"Perfect. Thank you. Have a nice evening." He smiled politely and then went back to his table. "As much fun as I had here tonight, I will have to take my leave. Nicaise, Jokaste, have fun. I am going back."

Jokaste grinned. "Say hello to Damen for me, if you have time between tearing your clothes of and getting laid."  
"I will try my best."

"I won't add anything to this request as I think it might be a tight fit just with that much requirements." Nicaise waved and Laurent left with a smirk on his face.

Back in the apartment he shared with Damen, he started undressing and then went to take a shower. Contrary to what Jokaste and Nicaise seemed to believe, he didn't expect Damen to come back, for some time more. 

He hadn't texted him about his early leave and he knew Damen was the life of every party. No way his fiancé would ditch his friends and whatever they did.

When he finished his shower, he went back to dress for bed. Just when he had put on some boxer briefs his phone rang. The ringtone wasn't one that Laurent knew but he had his phone laying around Nicaise unsupervised and that always proofed to be a mistake, but he didn't learn. 

Some guy sang about loving someone's brain out and how beautiful their mind was… 

He picked up and when he heard Damen's voice, he laughed out loud.  
"What is so funny, sweetheart?"  
"Nicaise changed your ringtone."

"Oh really? To what?"  
"I don't know. I'll have to ask him but it's something about loving someone's brain out."

"Very fitting. You should leave it." Damen chuckled.  
"Why are you calling, Damen?"  
"I just wanted to tell you that I am on my way back to the apartments. If you need someone to carry you up the stairs, you can call me."

Laurent blinked. What was Damen doing?   
"Will do, darling." He didn't even realize he said it until he heard Damen suck in a sharp breath of air. "We'll talk later," he added and then hung up. Had he seriously just called Damen "Darling"? What was wrong with him?

He shook his head and went to brush his teeth. He would surprise Damen. As soon as he stood before the bed, he felt himself gravitate to Damen's shirt, which lay neatly folded on the chair beside it. 

He bit his bottom lip. His hand twitched and he didn't want to fight his instincts any longer today. He snatched Damen's shirt up and threw it on himself, then he buried his face in Damen's pillow and breathed long and deep. 

He didn't know when he fell asleep exactly, but he knew that he woke up to feel a hard, unyielding body pressing against him. The scent was intoxicating. He was surrounded by Damen and his head started to spin. This man would be his downfall. 

He inhaled deeply and felt a shudder seize his whole body. He was still not fully awake, that's what he told himself to rationalize his reaction.

"Hello, sweetheart." Damen's voice was a rumble, directly by his ear and Laurent gasped. "You have no idea how enticing you are right now."

He turned his head and came face to face with his hot-as-hell fiancé. Damen lounged on his side, his curls were damp, his dimples on full display and his eyes clouded with desire. 

"I love how you look in my clothes." Damen stared at Laurent's pale collarbone that peaked out from the collar of the too-big t-shirt. 

"Damianos, you smell so damn good." Laurent couldn't help himself. He buried his nose right at the juncture of the Alpha's neck and shoulder and breathed deeply. That was what he craved since he left the apartment. 

Damen held him close by the back of his head and rolled onto his back. Laurent felt how he calmed down, how both of their heartbeats slowed and evened out. 

"I was so nervous without you." Damen spoke first and his words were low and almost uncertain. "I just wanted to go and get you and it was stupid because you always leave for work and it never bothered me but today…"

"Me too. I felt off. It was terrible," Laurent admitted softly. He looked up and stared at Damen through his lashes. "Now, before we get too sappy, I believe I have a plan to execute. We talk later. I just need…"

"Yes." Damen was breathless, as soon as Laurent slid down his body and then they both didn't talk about the strange feeling for a long time.


	5. The wedding(s)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dear readers! here is the last chapter to this story. Maybe there will be some more one shots in this storyline, I don't know, we'll see :D Thank you all for your support and love for this story. I hope you like the last chapter! Let me know what you thought. I'll answer the comments later on :)

They didn't talk about it. Both Laurent and Damen preferred to ignore their strange reaction at the Bachelor night. Damen knew, they should be talking about it but it was just so much effort to finish everything before the wedding. 

Whenever they found some quiet minutes, they spent them together, most of the time in bed. He couldn't get enough of Laurent's touch, of his scent and of his sounds. He was head over heels like never before and he thanked every deity that he found Laurent somehow.

The evening before the weddings was filled with nervous energy. Laurent paced and Damen watched him. His fiancé looked more nervous than ever before. "What is it, sweetheart?"

Laurent threw him a glance. His blue eyes were wide and even a bit fearful. "I don't know."  
Damen stood and stopped Laurent's movements when he drew him into a tight hug. "We don't have to do it tomorrow. We can just say "no" and continue our relationship without being married."

Laurent laughed. It was disbelieving and without humor. "Damen, if there is something I am sure about it's that I want to marry you." He sounded so calm suddenly and the Alpha had to see his face. 

The blond man smiled up to him and kissed his lips. "I love you and I want to marry you. What I am worried about has nothing to do with the wedding."  
"What else, then?"

"I just have a bad feeling. Something is not right and it stresses me out. I can't tell you what it is, but I know something is wrong." Laurent bit his bottom lip. "The last week I felt horrible. I thought it was because of the stress or because I was constantly in company of strangers and the filming certainly didn't help. But I think it won't go away after the wedding."

Damen scrunched up his nose. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"  
"I thought I was overreacting." Laurent shrugged helplessly. He couldn't even rationalize it himself. 

"I don't feel save except in your arms, I feel restless and emotional except when I can scent you and it's as if my skin is crawling whenever I can't see you. It wasn't so bad at the beginning but after the bachelor party I couldn't stand it anymore. I had the most unproductive days at work since I started my job."

Damen chewed on his bottom lip and drew his Omega in his arms again. Worry washed over him, protective pheromones pumped out of his uncovered scent glands and he felt a rumble build up in his chest. 

"Come on, we should go to bed. Tomorrow is a big day and then I'll take you to a doctor. I need to know how I can help you."

Laurent nodded tiredly and followed him without arguing that a doctor wasn't necessary. That fact alone made Damen think that the situation might be direr than Laurent let on.

He slept maybe two hours. The rest of the night he held Laurent close and felt his instincts go into overdrive. He brushed a blond lock away from Laurent's brow and just hoped that everything would turn out alright.

On the plan of the wedding venue they were second to last. Auguste and Jokaste were first so that they could attend their wedding. Auguste had the clause added before they agreed to the filming. 

He looked good in his three piece wedding suit and Laurent smiled at him when he entered the room where his brother was waiting. "I feel worse than before the Delica settlement ", he admitted.

Laurent laughed and patted his brother's shoulder. The Delica settlement was the first big case that Auguste negotiated himself. He had been sick the night before while Laurent had patted his back and assured him that he would rock the case.

"It is your wedding day, obviously you feel worse." That caused Auguste to snort indelicately. "But you will be fine."

"At least one of us thinks that." Auguste racked his hand through his hair and Laurent sighed while he smoothed it out again. "You need to stop doing that. Jokaste might reconsider if you look like you just fell out of bed."

Auguste grinned. "I can tell you, she loves my just-out-of-bed look. Especially since I sleep naked."  
"Too much information, brother." 

They sat down, both with a glass of champagne and talked about what Auguste wanted to do for their honeymoon. "We need to wait for some months but after that I would like to visit Ishtima. Jokaste was there once as a teenager and she loved it. I heard it was beautiful, so I think it would be the perfect choice."

Laurent smiled while he tried to suppress a cold shudder that ran down his spine. His head was killing him. "That sounds amazing." 

Auguste was nervous enough that he didn't realize how bad Laurent was feeling, that was good. Laurent didn't have the energy to assure his brother that everything was fine when it clearly wasn't.

Sometime later, he had to go. He patted Auguste's shoulder. "Don't forget when you have to say yes."  
"I won't."

When Laurent sat down beside Damen, he saw half of the law firm, important business partners and even some of the competition under the guests, people that were expected, as well as a horde of Auguste's university friends. 

He sighed. That would prove to be entertaining later on, as the guests most likely also would stay for his own wedding.

"How are you feeling?" Damen asked him. Laurent took his hand. "Better now. I just hope the whole ordeal will be over soon."  
"Me too." 

Then the ceremony started. Auguste made his way to the altar, he smiled and waved at some colleagues and then the wedding march started to play. Jokaste looked very beautiful and she smiled as if the sun shone only for her. It might as well have, with how Auguste's face lit up, when he saw her coming towards him.

Laurent felt dizzy. He only caught half of the words they said, at least he was fully present at the important part. Both said "yes", and when they kissed, a collective cheer could be heard. 

They moved to another part of the venue while Laurent was ushered away to get ready. He straightened his shoulders and went with gritted teeth. He made it through the preparations without a hitch and went to the waiting room.

Auguste already waited for him. The biggest grin on his face. "You look beautiful, Lauri."  
"Thank you." 

Laurent sat down on the couch and concentrated hard on his breathing. Cold sweat gathered between his shoulder blades. "Are you alright?" Auguste sounded suddenly concerned.  
"I don't know." 

"What is it? Are you nervous? It's totally normal."  
"No. I am not nervous. I don't feel so good." Laurent wiped his brow. "But it's certainly nothing major. Maybe I caught a stomach bug or something."  
Auguste didn't look convinced, but he didn't push either.

Damen stood before the altar and felt horrible. Something was wrong. He was nervous and none of his normal calming methods helped him. 

Auguste reappeared and Damen waved him over. "How is he?"  
"Not well. I don't know what it is, but he wasn't himself."  
Damen sighed. "I knew we should have postponed the wedding. He was feeling ill for a while, but he was too stubborn to listen to me."

"That's Laurent." Auguste wrinkled his forehead.  
"I'll take him to the hospital after the wedding. I don't think it's just a minor inconvenience."  
"You do that. I'll entertain the guests." 

They shared a look and then Auguste needed to take a seat. The music started playing and Laurent appeared. He was so breathtakingly beautiful that Damen almost forgot that he wasn't feeling well. Nothing could be seen on his face or in his posture.

When he reached Damen, he smiled, it was tight, but it still reached his eyes. Damen leaned in close. "Everything okay?"  
Laurent tightened his jaw in a clear effort of control. "Yes."

Then the ceremony started in earnest. Laurent said his vows, Damen said his own and they both committed themselves to each other. They shared rings and then they kissed and that was the exact moment, when Damen could feel how bad Laurent was feeling.

His skin burned up, but his teeth clattered a little bit, as if he was cold.  
Damen drew him close, as if to kiss him harder but his hand found the small of Laurent's back and he felt the sweat gathered there. 

"That's enough. I will get you to a doctor", he murmured but Laurent shook his head. "No, we will stay here for another hour with your family and then you can take me wherever you want, but I will not abandon our own wedding now. It's almost over anyway."

"You are a stubborn asshole", Damen muttered through gritted teeth while they shook hands of their guests. "Half an hour."

Laurent pressed his lips against Damen's jaw for a second and replied, "Forty-Five minutes."  
"You still try to negotiate. I can't believe you."

They thanked everyone in attendance, were complimented and complimented back, received congratulation after congratulation and finally, exactly forty-five minutes later, Damen could get Laurent out of there without any protests from his husband. 

The guests were a bit confused but only until Auguste took a microphone and started with a long thank-you speech.  
Damen rushed outside to one of the cars while he explained the situation to one of the producers, who were horrified to hear that Laurent felt as bad as he did. 

Then he drove to the next hospital and there he practically ran with Laurent in his arms to the emergency entrance. Laurent had closed his eyes and buried his fingers in Damen's suit jacket. 

The nurse at the entrance obviously realized that this was not your normal emergency. She immediately directed Damen to lay Laurent down on one of the beds and started to take his vitals. "How long is he feeling like this?"

"It stared one week ago, at least, that's what he told me. However, it only got worse three days ago and yesterday it was frightening. He isn't one to complain but yesterday he told me his head hurt like hell and today this." Damen felt frantic. 

He held Laurent's hand.   
"Damen, don't worry. I'll be better in no time", he said with a smile on his face. The nurse once again checked him over, then she paged someone. 

"I have a hunch what could be wrong, but I need a doctor to confirm it. If what I think is true, then we need to act fast." She explained. "You can accompany us but stay out of the way and let the doctor do his job, you hear me?" 

Damen nodded, he didn't understand what the problem was and why he shouldn't let the doctor do the job. He wanted the doctor to do his or her job that was the whole reason he was in the fucking hospital. 

Three nurses rolled the bed into an elevator and off they were. Damen provided them with all the information on Laurent that he had. 

In the examination room Damen took Laurent's hand and squeezed his fingers. "Sweetheart, please." He sounded like a frightened child and he hated himself for it. He needed to be strong for Laurent, who was hurting more by the minute it seemed.

The doctor practically run into the room. It was a beta woman and she smiled apologetic. "I'm sorry but all Omega doctors are in surgery or otherwise occupied. My name is Dr. Tuor. Mr. d'Arles, am I right?"

"That's alright. I don't discriminate. As long as you do your job", Laurent bit out through clenched teeth. She gave a chocked laugh. "You might change your mind later on. I need you to strip."

Laurent rose an eyebrow. "What do you think is wrong with me?" However, he complied without a second of hesitation.

"I think you are going into a bonding heat and your body is fighting against your implant that suppresses your heats."  
Laurent stared at her. "Excuse me?"

She smiled kindly. "It's extremely rare. It can only happen when you meet an Alpha that is biologically so compatible to you that you wouldn't have been able to resist each other without suppressants and scent patches. The probability of that happening lies at approximately five percent. And even then you would have to form an intense emotional bond for your reaction to be strong enough to fight the implant. That lowers the chances of this happening, again and now we are at a probability that lies at approximately zero point five percent."

"So you want to tell me that I am going into a bonding heat, because Damen and I are too compatible and emotionally connected?"  
"Exactly."

Damen dared to raise his voice when Laurent threw his suit on a chair beside the bed and started unbuttoning his dress shirt. "What is a bonding heat?"

"That is a heat that only happens if a compatible pair decides to share a heat without any suppressants at all. In this case it is practically impossible to prevent a bonding." He gaped at her and Laurent felt the panic rise in his chest. 

The doctor motioned for him to take a seat at the chair. He complied, only wearing his boxer briefs.  
Damen's fingers found his hair and he started to massage Laurent's scalp with his fingertips.

"I need to remove your scent patches", the doctor warned, and he only nodded. She made quick work of them and immediately his scent flooded the air. 

Damen's nostrils flared and a growl built in his chest. Immediately Laurent tensed. He didn't understand why his husband was growling. The doctor smiled a bit strained.

"Please, try to calm down, your partner needs you now, Mr…" She trailed off and Laurent almost laughed. "We married today. So, it's d'Arles, too."   
"Oh, congratulations. I am really sorry this happened at your wedding day."

Laurent shrugged. "If I had come sooner it wouldn't have happened at my wedding day. I am to blame." 

She pressed her lips together while massaging the scent glands at his wrists, his tights and lastly his throat. The bonding glands on his throat were red and swollen. "This doesn't look good Mr. d'Arles. I need to examine your abdomen. It might hurt a bit."

Laurent nodded and closed his eyes. Jaw clenched he gave no sound. 

"On a scale of 1, almost none at all, to 10, the worst pain you ever experienced, how much pain do you feel when I apply pressure?" Dr. Tuor asked him when she pressed down on his left side, then on the right.  
"Something close to an eight."

"Okay. Now this might hurt even more, give me a number again", she warned and then put pressure right below his belly button. Laurent almost jumped out of the chair, a gasp leaving his mouth. "Ten, a ten." 

She immediately drew her hand away and let him calm down.  
"For fucks sake, warn a man, would you?" He said when the pain was tolerable again. 

"I am sorry Mr. d'Arles. But I could confirm my suspicion. You have exactly two possibilities now. Either you let us induce a coma, sleep through the heat and we talk about your options after you wake up again –" She was immediately interrupted by Damen, "What's the other option?"

"The other option Mr. d'Arles would be that you let us remove the implant and go through your heat with your husband, you two bond and there is that."

Laurent closed his eyes. Both options were pretty shitty. He just needed to decide which one was worse. "Can I get a minute with my husband in private?"

"Sure. But you need to decide as soon as possible. If we wait any longer than we have to, you might suffer long-term damage to your hormonal system." 

Laurent nodded and then she left the room. Damen took his hand. "What do you want, sweetheart?"

"I don't know. I think both options are very limited in their ability to provide a solution to the problem at hand." Laurent sighed and started dressing again. Damen smiled and looked at him thoughtfully. "That's not true. If we bond, the problem would be solved for all eternity."

"But there might be other problems. We just married, Damen. We don't know each other for more than a month. What if you change your mind?"  
"I know I won't."

"But you can't know that."  
Damen laughed. "I won't ever know for certain. Maybe you tell me tomorrow that you don't want to see my face ever again, but I am confident enough that this won't happen. I love you and I want you to be happy. If you tell me you want to bond, I can say now, with absolute confidence, that I want that too. If you tell me you want to sleep through the heat and then look at our options again, I will have your back."

Laurent closed his eyes tightly and tilted his head back. "Whatever I decide, you will support me?"

"Obviously. I would prefer the bonding option, to be honest, but I would never force you to make a decision against what you want." Damen smiled and kissed his husband's brow. "Should I wait outside?"

"No. Please stay here. I think I can't let you go." Laurent thought about the different options some minutes longer, then he called out to the doctor. She came inside, a worried look on her face.

"If I decide to remove the implant, what other birth control options do I have? And how long would it take for the heat to hit full force?"

"We would provide you with a birth control shot, if you decide to go off suppressants permanently, what I would recommend you, because otherwise you might be triggered to another heat, then you would have to renew the shot every month. You could do that with your own doctor or here, whatever you prefer. The heat would hit you in two to three hours later maximum."

Laurent grimaced. However, his eyes were hard when he announced, "Remove the implant." 

Damen kissed him and then stood. "I'll call Nicaise if he can get us all the groceries we need and let Auguste know that you'll be alright." 

Laurent felt himself nod, but when Damen left for the door, he felt panic well up inside him. "Could you stay here, maybe?"

Damen's expression softened and he stood close to the wall, his eyes fixated on Laurent, while he told Nicaise what they needed. 

The doctor started removing the implant, it was a short procedure, ten minutes over all and then she gave Laurent his birth control shot. "You should feel like yourself in about two hours. Then all the remnants of the implant are taken care of by your heat and you shouldn't feel sick anymore." 

"Good." He felt better now that he had made a decision. Although it was rushed, he knew he had wanted to bond after the wedding. Just not right now. But that was life. 

Damen finished the phone call with Auguste when Dr. Tuor advised him on making a doctor's appointment right after the heat.  
Laurent nodded along. "I'll do that." His head hurt like a bitch and he just wanted to lie down.

Damen looked his husband over. They were back in Laurent's apartment and the Omega had immediately started nesting.

It was suddenly so obvious what was going on. Damen had changed from his wedding suit in sweatpants and a soft t-shirt. He had called the producer and director of the show and they had immediately understood. 

Nicaise had dropped of the groceries half an hour ago. Laurent was clothed in the softest looking sweater in human existence. He arranged blankets and pillows on his bed and Damen stood in the door frame and watched him doing it. 

He was affected by the impending heat too. He felt his protective instincts go into overdrive, his possessiveness rearing it's head. The desire coiled tight in his gut, but that was a common occurrence where his husband was concerned. 

Everything was well and he could relax, while he watched his husband work. The heat would hit every moment now. He could smell it heavy in the air. It was delicious and so inviting. He had to keep a tight rein on his instincts. 

He smiled, his life was perfect, and he would forever be grateful that he could meet Laurent and that the man would love him back. 

He was right where he wanted to be and when Laurent looked up to him and then offered him a hand, he knew he would never ever regret a single decision that brought him right to this one moment in time.

"It's time, husband." Laurent looked at him with those fascinating eyes and Damen kissed him with all he had. He was right where he belonged.


End file.
